Belarus extradites Israeli to Azerbaijan
After the Belarus High Court rejected the appeal of Israeli blogger Alexander Lapshin, he was extradited to Azerbaijani capital of Baku, to stand trial in for offenses that could land him in jail for an extended period of time; The Israeli and Russian Foreign ministries cooperated to prevent the extradition, but to no avail.
The appeal's rejection followed the court's previous decision two weeks prior to extradite Lapshin. He is expected to be transferred to Azerbaijan within the next few days.
Lapshin, a 40-year-old Haifa resident with Israeli, Russian and Ukrainian citizenships, recently visited the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region in Azerbaijan, called the Azerbaijani government "a dictatorship" and openly supported its independence. Soon after, Azerbaijan issued a warrant for his arrest on suspicion of espionage.
Lapshin was arrested two months ago upon reaching Belarus, with the intent of extraditing him to Azerbaijan. Israeli officials worry that if Lapshin is transferred to Azerbaijan, he will be tried for espionage and will face a heavy prison sentence.
Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko mentioned the affair earlier this week, saying that "We must transfer him to Azerbaijan. There is no reason not to." Lukashenko stressed that the matter will be solved in accordance to the law and international agreements, and suggested that Israel and Azerbaijan decide Lapshin's fate together.
The charges leveled against Lapshin could add up to a substantial prison sentence for insulting the Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev and jeopardizing national security. For these alleged crimes, Lapshin faces up to 20 years behind bars; for entering the Nagorno-Karabakh region illegally, he faces up to seven years in prison.
He sent a letter of apology to President Aliyev through the Israeli Consul to Belarus Yulia Rahinski Spivakov, who attested to his broken mental state. Spivakov added that Lapshin's mother had also sent a letter to Aliyev, asking for her son's pardon.
Israel reportedly worked behind the scenes to prevent his extradition, cooperating with Russia, who also objected to the extradition, with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stating that Russia is against extraditing Lapshin or indicting reporters and citizens to a third country due to criminal charges. It was, however, to no avail.
